What Is Love?
by everycloudhas
Summary: "Love is..."
1. Her

(0527)

Inoue Orihime's footsteps were light but her heart was not.

She walked slowly behind him as usual.

She stared at the back of the boy she has loved for so long.

Expect he was no longer a boy.

He was almost a man and she wished he was her man.

He seemed to be so near to her and yet, so very far from her.

All she has to do was to lift her hand and she could touch him,

But,

Could she touch his heart?

Is his heart beating for someone?

Even though she should not,

She still reached out to him.

Slowly and steadily,

Her hand was getting closer and

Closer..

(0527)

It was just another day.

They were walking home from school.

Not together.

She was behind him,

As usual.

He wanted for her to walk side by side with him,

But,

She deemed him too forbidding to even do that.

She was within his reach.

And yet, it seemed like she was light years away from him.

He knew he should not,

But all he has to do was to stop,

And...

(0527)

"Inoue,"

Startled,

The hand stopped in its journey to the forbidden destination and it hastily dropped back to the side of the body.

The other hand holding the schoolbag lost its grip and the bag dropped to the ground with a soft thud.

She was going to bend down and retrieve her school bag when she saw it dangling in front of her.

She gave him a small apologetical smile and then a bigger smile of gratitude as she took her bag from him.

Kurosaki Ichigo blatantly stared at her for a moment, caught off guard by yet another sun rivaling smile of hers.

He loved those smiles of hers and if he were to be true to himself,

He loves everything about her.

"Sorry, did I startle you?" He apologized and continued to stare at her.

He knew he should not but standing so close to her, being so close to her,

He wanted more and yet he dare not to cross the line.

The line he has heartlessly drawn when he has fallen for the princess and he knew she will never treat him as anything more than a friend.

Orihime could not meet his eyes. They were so intense in their heated gaze.

She wondered what was it he was thinking about when he has his eyes fixed so firmly on her.

She looked down at her shoes and shook her head, "It was not your fault, Kurosaki-kun. I was just thinking about something." She told him truthfully and still she could not look him in the eyes as the words came out.

Why can't she look me in the face when she is talking to me?

Is it she's lying to me when she can't look me in the eyes?

Is she thinking of not something but someone when she's with me?

And why shouldn't she?

For what are we?

Ichigo decides to find out.

Is she in love with someone?

"Inoue, can I ask you something?"

(0527)


	2. Him

(0527)

Inoue Orihime looked up and blinked in bewilderment at a hesitant Kurosaki Ichigo.

Her heart stopped a beat and a tiny smoldering hope was threatening to ignite and burst forth with renewed promise.

She forced herself to stay calm and keep...

Hoping?

"You can ask me anything, Kurosaki-kun." She cheerfully acquiesced to his request.

Ichigo gazed upon those trusting eyes framed in such an angelic innocent face and silently berated himself for even daring to hope she hold the same feelings for him as he did for her.

He really was a conceited though hopeful idiot.

It was so unlike him, he was so unsure of himself and how was he going to broach the topic and,

Could he handle the cold hard truth?

Rubbing and scratching the back of his head with equal energy, he channelled the energy in looking at the eagerly-awaiting-his-question princess.

Giving her a steely gaze which contradicted with the insecurities that was uncomfortably eating at him, he blurted out the question,

"Inoue, do you believe in love?"

"Huh?" A confused blushing face was his answer.

_'Stupid! That's not what I wanted to ask!'_ Ichigo chided himself.

Orihime's timid voice broke through his censuring of his mindless questioning, he returned his attention to her.

"What type of love?" She wanted to know.

_'Your love for me._' He thought hopefully.

But,

"Forget about it." Ichigo decided to drop the subject.

Orihime pouted, but just a little. She did not want to be seen as being too pushy. She appealed to Ichigo with her doe-eyed pleading look, "Kurosaki-kun, do you trust me?" Seeing his nod of agreement, she pressed on. "Then, let me help you with whatever is bothering you, alright?" Orihime gave him an encouraging smile.

But is she creating more heartbreak for herself.

Who could resist that look and the offer of help?

Why not?

"Inoue, what is love?" Again he has asked not what he wanted to know. He was getting frustrated with his out-of-the-norm indecisive self. He closed his eyes in anguish. Self-defeating thoughts started to take root and slowly it started to sprout and spread relentlessly, filling his head with what should not be thought till he felt a gentle touch on his arm.

His eyes shot opened as he ignored the tingling the mere touch aroused not only the area it came into contact with but a sudden miraculous cleansing of all negative thoughts from his self-abased mind.

She truly was a healer.

He was greeted by a sight he wanted to savor as his and his only.

"Kurosaki-kun, are you alright?" Bright eyes filled with concern, plump lips trembling with anxiety and a face flushed pink by her boldness in initiating a touch.

He could only nod as speech was suddenly beyond him. He could only continue to gaze upon what love must be.

"Kurosaki-kun, you kept talking about love. D-do you, a-are you in l-love?" Orihime stammered out her hope and fear. She dropped her eyes and hand away from him. She was brave enough to ask him but she was not really ready to hear the answer.

He was brought back to face the cruel reality once the contact was severed.

"Inoue, do you really want to know?" A nodding of the shiny auburn hair was his only response but he wanted more, so much more.

"Then look at me when I tell you."

(0527)


	3. Love

_(Yoshi! I am back, well almost. This was supposed to be a one-shot on that special day. But I have forgotten about it and so the hurried short beginning. This was the day my parents made it official.) _

(0527)

Inoue Orihime could not,

dare not to look him in the face, for if she did...

She would be mesmerized by his expressive eyes.

Those eyes, which promised so much and which she dared not to hope, viewed her in any special way.

Nervously, she fiddled with the handles of her school bag.

She knew he was waiting for her to lift her head and as hard as she was trying, she could not.

Kurosaki Ichigo wondered just what was doing on in the gentle healer's mind when both her hands and feet were showing signs of her uneasiness.

What was she so anxious about?

It was not as if she love...

Him?

A speck of hope was slowly coming back to life again, one he dared not hope and yet, he desired it to be so much to be true.

He decided to step over the line, but not much.

He touched her.

Orihime's eyes widened and her already flushed face bloomed into a deeper shade of red as she felt Ichigo's rough hand on her quivering chin.

Lifting her face for her eyes to meet his, he resisted the undeniable natural instinct to kiss her.

She should really stop tempting him by her unconsciously action of torturing her luscious lips.

He forced himself to look away from her lips and moved his eyes to meet hers.

Soft startled brown met hard hellbent brown.

"Inoue," He tightened the grip on her chin, forcing her to look at him. "Are you in love?" Finally, he has asked what he has wanted, though not what she has expected.

He saw the confusion in her face and he decided to explain himself before his courage fail him.

"You wanted to know if I was in love with someone. To tell you the truth, I think I am but I do not really know because I have never felt this way before. I asked you if you are in love because I wanted to know if what you felt correspond as to how I feel." He saw something flickered in her honey eyes.

"So are you?" He repeated with the anticipation of hope.

Orihime gazed upon his chocolate eyes. There really is no sense in hiding it anymore, is it?

"Yes. I love someone. No, I guess I am in love with him. And as for the feelings you were talking about." She pointed to his heart, "Your heart will tell you. It will whisper how much you want to see him, how much you want to hear his voice, how much you want to be with him, how everything about him is just... him." She really did not know what is love... except her love for him.

But she cannot tell him that.

Ichigo has a unconcerned expression on his face. _'So, everything about her, eh?'_ He stared at her.

"Does he know? The one you love." He pleaded silently for her to tell him, it's him.

Orihime tried to look away from those determined inquisitive eyes. His grip though soft was firmly holding her to meet his eyes.

She let out a soft breath.

"Yes, no, maybe... I do not really know. He was sleeping when I confessed to him of my eternal love for him." Her words sprout from her mouth without going through her brain first. She covered her mouth in a hurry when she realized what was said.

Ichigo dropped his hand from her chin. Shock was apparent in his face.

"Y-ou were in h-his r-room and he was s-sleeping! A-are y-you and him that c-close!?" He stuttered out his accusation. It was not good. Are they at such a stage in their relationship? Unwanted images of her and _him_ appeared in his head and started to mock at him. A faceless bastard with his princess.

He glared at the gentle healer.

Orihime did not know what Kurosaki-kun was thinking or accusing her of but she did know he was angry with her. She was going to defend herself from whatever it was he was accusing her of.

She huffed before standing straight and looked at Ichigo right in the eyes.

"Yes. I was in his room. And he was recuperating from the injuries he has sustained from a fight, so he was really unconscious, not sleeping. He did not even know I was there, I think. I like to think we are fairly close." She ended her little explanation with a glance at him.

The glare went away. The tone softened.

"So you care about him so much that you snuck into a boy's room to see how he was?"

Orihime smiled sheepishly.

"It is love, eh?"

And she nodded.

"I see." He stared at her, yet again. "In that case, so am I."

She wanted to know. She so desperately wanted to know.

"Are you going to tell her?"

Ichigo continued to stared at Orihime. "I will think about it. Since you help me out, why don't I let you know before I confess to her." He has noticed how her face fell when no answer was forthcoming. "We are here."

"Huh?"

"You are home, Inoue." He stated the fact with a smirk. "I will see you tomorrow." He turned and left.

Just like that.

Orihime did not even have her bearings straighten. "Goodbye Kurosaki-kun." As soon as she has composed herself, she quickly said her goodbye.

Ichigo lifted one arm and waved.

_'If Kurosaki-kun should turn his head, I will run to him, hug him and confess.'_ Orihime thought feverishly to herself and waited and waited... but he never did turn back.

Her tears did, though.

_'Stupid, stupid tears.'_ Orihime rubbed the tears furiously from her cheeks. She watched as Ichigo slowly became a blur through her tears-filled eyes.

Sadly, she trudged up the steps to her apartment.

Even her keys was preventing her from seeking solace in her own home.

Tears falling unrelentingly, she was finding it difficult to open her own door.

"You cannot even open your own door. You are useless, so useless." She muttered to herself. "No wonder Kurosaki-kun dislikes you. No, he hates you."

"Why would I hate you?"

A squeak.

"Kurosaki-kun!?"

The keys disappeared from her hands.

Quick reflexes caught them before they fell to the ground.

Orihime willed herself to stop crying, she tried to clear the evidence of her tears from her flushed face and finally mustering a smile, she asked for her keys back.

Ichigo shoved the keys into his pocket, earning himself a look of extreme surprise from the auburn-haired beauty.

"Kurosaki-kun~!?" She whined.

"Inoue," He gave her a strictly no-nonsense look. "Not until you tell me why were you crying and why the hell should I hate you?"

She returned his look with a defiant one. She can be stubborn as well.

"Inoue," He rubbed the back of his head nervously as he took in her almost fierce look. He plucked up his courage in matters regarding the heart. "I told you, you will be the first to know should I ever confess my love. Well, I have thought about it and I am going to fight for her love. I am going to eliminate the one she loves from her heart." He fixed her a passionate gaze.

Orihime was in shock. Kurosaki-kun was going all out for his love and what about her cowardly self.

"Y-you are not going to h-hurt Abarai-kun, are you?" She gasped out.

"Why should I hurt that baboon for... What the... Is he the one you love!?" He sputtered and scowled his distaste of her and _him._

"What!? No!"

"Then why?"

"You said you were going to fight for her love and..." Orihime's eyes widened, her mouth stopped moving and remained open, she could not believe it,

She dared not believe it.

She pointed a trembling finger at herself, glanced shyly at him and waited for his affirmation.

Ichigo gave her a boyish grin and nodded. He wanted to hold her in his arms but he needed to know where's her affection laid first?

He wiped the tears that has started to trail down her cheeks again. Why was she crying?

Because he loves her?

"And you? Who is it you love?" He asked anxiously.

She smiled at him mischievously through her tears.

"Make a guess."

"Inoue." He said in exasperation. Seeing her face brimming with excitement, he has to give in, though his heart was pounding frantically at the thought of who it could be. "Give me a clue." He sighed.

"Only one clue? Kurosaki-kun is so~ smart." She sang out. Orihime cannot help it. She was just so happy.

"Hey! Don't insult my supreme intelligent. Now, give it to me." He snapped impatiently.

"Well, his father is a doctor." That is easy enough, right?

Now it was Ichigo turn for his eyes to grow bigger, his mouth fell open, he almost shouted, "You love Ishida!?" Well, he did shout, in complete petrified shock.

Now Inoue Orihime was not a violent girl but for once in her life, she wished she could smack some sense into the very dense boy she loves.

She folded her arms across her chest and tried to glare incredulously at him instead.

"No, Kurosaki-kun. It is not Ishida-kun. Now think carefully, who else we know has a father whose a doctor and you will realize that is who l love most in the world."

_'Ah! The pressure! I am going to kill the guy for giving me a headache. Who the hell could it be? The only other friend we know whose father is a doctor is... damnit!'_ The puzzle was solved. He looked hopefully at Orihime.

She smiled and he pulled her towards her.

He hugged her, he wrapped his arms around her, she felt so good in his arms and... she loves him.

Her arms slowly encircled around him as she rested her head on his chest. It was like going home and... he loves her.

She giggled when he talked on top of her head. His chin tickled her scalp.

"So why did the both of us not say anything to each other sooner?"

"Scared."

"Of?"

"Not having our love return."

"Are you happy now?"

The hold tighten. "Absolutely."

Kurosaki Ichigo was happy too. And he would hold her for as long as he like till he remembered what was said earlier. "Inoue, you said that you confessed to a unconscious boy, I take it as that was me, right?" He felt her tensed up. She looked up at him, "Can we talk about it inside, Kurosaki-kun?"

Secret, eh?

"No."

She pushed away from him but he still has his arms around her.

"Why?"

"I will only go in with you when you change the way as to how I am call." He teased her.

Oh...

Oh.

"May I have my keys back, Kurosaki-...sama?" Eyebrows twitched.

"Kurosaki-...san?" He held her close to him again. "Say my name, Orihime." He whispered against her ear.

The warm breath sent shivers right down to her toes.

"Do you want to come in, Ichigo-kun?"

His response was an unexpected light kiss on the too of her head, he reluctantly removed himself from her, swiftly took her keys out of his pocket, opened her door in a flash, all done in record fast time.

She expected him to step aside and let her go in first but instead, so unlike him, he went in first.

She pouted at his back. She was going to stick her tongue out at him. She felt so carefree.

She was so very happy.

Then,

He turned, held out a hand to her,

She beamed at him and placed her small hand in his larger one,

and she followed him in.

She walked slowly behind him as usual.

Except,

They were not as far apart from each other as they thought.

And what is love?

Love is just that,

Love.

(0527)

(_Special thanks to : **Annabelle4.0, NaruHinaFanboy, Tahaku, Fer-chan.7, Ichihime94, KazumaKaname, Renji4eva, kuku3, Hylla,)**_


End file.
